Improvement in flexible-lined faucets



' UNITED STATES JOHN BROUGHTON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN FLEXIBLE-LINED FAUCETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 44,5 l0, dated October 4, 1864.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that L JOHN BRoUGHToN, ofV

the city, county, and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Preparing and Securing Cork Linings in Faucets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear` and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a pztrt of this specification, in which- Figure l represents a vertical longitudinal section of a faucet which I have selected for the purpose ofillustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view, with the cylindrical shell in horizontal section, t-hrough the line l 2. Fig. 3 represents the surface or plan view of a piece of cork, intended for a lining, as cut from a dat sheet or slab, and the outline of which corresponds to the developed surface of the cylindrical shell of the faucet. Fig. 4 represents a mold or former made of tin, brass, or other suitable material. Fig. 5 represents the cork lining when prepared ready for insertion in the faucet.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

- that they can be inserted in the shell of the faucet without boring for the plug or further manipulation; second, in an improved method of securing the prepared lining in position by casting a longitudinal projection or rib in the inside of the shell of the faucet in such manner that it forms an abutment at the joint of the lining, and prevents it from rotating or moving in a horizontal direction in the line of its circumference, and secures it in position without ribs or projections to indent the cork, or recesses in the wall of the faucet for the cork to fill by expansion or distention, and admits of brass faucets being cast, in the ordinary nianner of casting plain work, with a round and smooth-surfaced sand core.

A is the shell of the faucet; B, the ordinary metallic plug, provided with a shoulder resting on the top of the cylindrical body of the shell at its upper end, and with a washer, J, at its lower end secured in place by a screw, D, which closes the bottom of the shell. The plug is a quarter of an inch (more or less) smaller in diameter than the internal diameter of the shell or body of the faucet, and the spa-ce between them is to be filled by the cork lining O.

A projection, d, is cast in the interior of the shell or body of the faucet, extending vertically in the line of its axis from its top down to its lower end, and corresponds in depth nearly to the thickness of the cork lining, to the joint or ends of which, when the lining is in place, it forms an abutment or base to rest against, and thus prevents any horizontal motion and torsion of the lining by means of the turning of the plug. The lining is secured in longitudinal or vertical position and closed in by the shoulder on the upper end of the plug, which forms a cap over it, and by the washer J at the lower end.

- E, Fig. 3, is a fiat piece of cork, whose thickness is shown at f, cut to correspond in shape to the developed surface of the interior of the cylindrical shell or body of the faucet, or it may be a little larger, in which form it is to be steamed or saturated with liquid until it becomes soft and pliable, when it is to be inserted or forced into a mold, G, Fig. 4, and set away to dry; or it may bc exposed to the act-ion of hot air until the moisture has evaporated and the cork shrunk to its original dimensions, when it will be found to have taken permanentlythe shape of its mold, which in this example of my invention is the shape of a frustum of a cone, to conform to the shape of the shell or body of the faucet and of the plug. Openings or passages for the liquid corresponding to that in the plug, as seen in Fig. l and in dotted outline in Fig. 2, are then to be made in it, when it is all ready to be put in its place in the faucet, which is quickly and easily done by pushing it down into the shell of the faucet, the taper form of which facilitates the operation and gradually compresses the lining until its edges rest firmly against the abutment or ridge d. The curvature given to the cork causes the pores on its inner surface to be closed up more or less, thereby condensing, so to speak, that face of the cork against which the plug moves, and giving the parts a smooth and snug tit.

Among the advantages of my method of preparing and securing cork linings are the following: First, the body of the faucet can be made of brass, in the form of the ordinary cylindrieal shell, with a smooth inner surface, and cast in the usual manner with the ordinary sand core, which cannot be done when the inner surface of the shell is required to be formed with a series of recesses or minute ribs to hold the packing; second, as the abutment projects forward nearly or quite the Whole thickness of the lining, the latter cannot slip by reason ofthe turning of the plug, nor drag between the surface of the plug and the outer edge of the abutment or ridge, while the shoulder on the top of the plug and the washer below close it in and secure it in a longitudinal direction; third, the shellor body of the faucet being open from top or bottom, should there be any roughness or defects-of the casting on its interior surface, which will frequent] y happen, they may be quickly removed by passing a file through and smoothing it off, thus obviating the necessity of throwingthe casting aside as too defective to be used 5 fourth, l-y cutting the cork lining by a pattern corresponding to the inner surface ofthe shell and molding it into the shape of the interior of the shell of the faucet which it is to line the inner surface can be made perfectly smooth, and the least possible amount of material is wasted. This method is in contradistinction to the method of filling the shell with a solid piece of cork, and then boring it out, which is done in making wood faucets with cork linings. It also obviates the difficulty, which is one almost impossible to overcome, of boring a smooth taper hole through such material.

The taper form of the shell and plug, in contradistinetion to a straight bore, allows the packing to be inserted more readily and gradually compresses the cork, both when inserting it in the shell and after the plug has been passed in, thus securing a good fit.

rlhe reason for saturating the cork and molding it into shape before it is inserted in the faucet is that any attemp to bend it in its dry state would crack and break it into pieces, and any attempt to saturate it and immediately insert it into the faucet would fail, because, first, the cork while saturated is much swollen and distended, as well as limp and pliable, and in this state could not endure the pressure necessary to force it to its position in the shell without being much injured or practically made worthless, and, secondly, if it could be forced in while saturated,and distended when the moisture had evaporated, it would be too small and shrunken to ll the bore accurately, whereas by my method of molding it to the right size and shape and inserting it dry it possesses stiffness enough to withstand the pressure necessary to force it in, and it may be made a little larger even than the bore, so that its compression when forced down to its place will make a tight fit, and will close the pores on its inside, thereby, among other advantages, increasing its capacity to withstand the wear of the plug.

The mold G may be longer than it is here represented, (provided it is the same taper and shape as the body of the faueet,) so as to facilitate the entry of the saturated cork,which is pushed down until its two edges meet and it forms a perfect circle.

I do not claim, broadly, the use of ribs or projections in the body of a faucet for the purpose of securing the packing, as ribs that indent themselves into the packing were patented to Wm. Cleveland, September 25, 1860, and I entirely disclaim them when used for the purpose of indentation; but,

Having thus described myinvention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The method, substantially as described, of preparing and molding cork linings for faucets in the form of a frustum of a cone or other shape, so that they may be inserted and tted in the interior of the faucet.

2. The arrangement of the abutment d with the open joint ofa fiexible lining, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the projection d with the body of the faucet and the flexible lining, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the flexible lining, secured in the faucet substantially as described, with the plug B or its equivalent.

JOHN BROUGHTON.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGsToN, C. L. TOPLIFF. 

